The Hindu : System for electronic filing of returns launched

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 22, 2004

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System for electronic filing of returns launched

By Our Special Correspondent

The Union Finance Minister, Jaswant Singh, at the inauguration of the Tax Information Network in New Delhi on Wednesday. — Photo: V. Sudershan

NEW DELHI, JAN. 21. The Centre today launched the Tax Information Network (TIN), which envisages electronic filing of returns. Billed as a major forward movement towards simplification of tax administration, this recommendation originally made in the Kelkar Committee report on direct taxes is expected to crack down heavily on tax evasion.

Launching the scheme here today, the Union Finance Minister, Jaswant Singh, said the facility was initially being extended to corporates who have to furnish the tax authorities with details of tax deducted at source (TDS). Soon it would be extended to individuals.

Explaining the benefits of the system, senior officials at the launch ceremony said that some corporates had to carry truckloads of TDS forms to the tax authorities and that it was a gigantic task going through them. Now, two compact discs would suffice and the revenue department could go through the material on the screen.

The National Securities Depository Limited would manage TIN and the system would facilitate dematerialisation of tax payments and refunds and also establish secure and seamless logistics of tax collection through integration of primary information, record keeping, dissemination and retrieval. It would also be a repository of information of all tax payments and refunds.

TIN would also receive, on behalf of the Income-Tax Department, all TDS returns and Annual Information Returns for digitisation. The information would be received either online or through magnetic media or in printed form and would be downloaded for further processing by the National Computer Centre of the Income-Tax Department.

The Annual Information returns would be filed by identified entities such as property registration offices, automobile companies and dealers, jewellery shops, hotels, hospitals, etc. giving details of payments received from individuals. Once the electronic network is in place, this information would be matched with the returns of the individuals, thereby cracking down on tax evasion in a big way.

The Finance Act, 2003, has made it compulsory for corporate deductors to file their TDS returns for the financial year 2002-03 on computer media. The NSDL has set up facilitation centres at 42 stations all over the country and electronic TDS returns can be filed by deductors at any of these centres. The details of the scheme for filing e-TDS returns are available on the website www.incometaxindia.gov.in and also www.tin.nsdl.co.in.

NSDL has also been authorised to receive Personal Account Number (PAN) application and issue PAN cards on the same lines at the UTI Investor Services Limited.

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